Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Corrected Vision

In speaking to the church at Laodicea the Lord informed them they were making Him sick and He was about ready to vomit them out of His mouth. His advice for them is "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent" (Rev. 3:18-19) His solution is to buy three entities. They don't have to make a trip to the local mall to get these. There is only one market where these can be obtained, from Christ Himself. He counsels them to buy "Gold refined by fire." This is a biblical idiom for purifying ones life by removing sin (I Peter 1:6-9). Secondly, they are to purchase "White garments" so they may clothe themselves in Christ's righteousness. The third solution is to buy "Eye salve" from Him that they will apply to their eyes so they will be able to see divine realities (John 14:26). Our Lord calls upon them to be earnest and repent. This would be a decisive change of mind regarding their spiritual condition. This results in genuine confession of sin to God (I John 1:9) and a change in spiritual direction. A real change of heart and mind results in a change in our walk. Why isn't the church more effective in the world today? I don't believe the problem lies completely with with world. Part of the problem could be with us. Perhaps we need to repent of the mentality of tolerance and compromise. We need to rid ourselves of a "Don't disturb me, don't ask me to move out of my comfort zone attitude. When comfort drives our values we become a pathetic people.
The Laodicean church was so "Luke warm" that Christ had been excluded from their fellowship. So He moved from the church in general and began to appeal to the individual believers on the inside of the church. He said "If anyone hears My voice and opens the door I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20). This is the promise of Christ's fellowship for any lukewarm believer who repents. Fellowship with Christ is priceless. `We have entered into an eternal relationship with a loving Savior. Nothing this world has to offer can compare to walking with the Lord.
Henry Morrison was a missionary to Africa. One day he was coming home from Africa on a ship, which was also carrying President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt was returning from a pig hunting expedition. When the ship docked in New York, thousands of people were there to greet Roosevelt. But no one was there to greet Morrison.
Henry Morrison had served the Lord for forty years in Africa. As he watched the crowds greet Theodore Roosevelt, he became dejected to think he had served the Lord all those years and yet no one was there to greet him.
Morrison said that as he walked down the gangplank in a depressed mood, a voice whispered to him, “Henry, don’t worry. You’re not home yet.” Then he said he saw a vision of multiplied thousands of Africans standing at the gates of heaven, those who he had reached for Christ, applauding him as he entered heaven.
If people are not recognizing you down here, if you are not getting applause right now, don’t worry. You are not home yet. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.